B5290 - Inequalities and Discrimination Processes

Learning outcomes

The course aims to address the main sociological theories regarding social inequalities and discrimination processes, adopting an intersectional and economic sociology perspective. Using an intersectional lens will allow for understanding how and to what extent gender, social class, ethnic group, and skills interact to create a distinctly specific area of marginalization and exclusion. By the end of the course, students will be able to: a) identify and critically analyze the main theories on social inequalities; b) recognize the different forms of opportunity disparities present in Italy and other countries; c) evaluate case studies in light of the theories learned and empirical evidence.

Course contents

The course aims to provide a theoretical and empirical perspective for analyzing inequalities and the main forms of discrimination in the labor market.

It consists of several thematic groups. After establishing the foundations for analyzing inequalities and their reproduction in the labor market, it will address topics closely related to gender from an intersectional perspective (maternity and maternity services, the reproduction market, workplace violence, discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals and migrants, flexibilization, remote work, and the equity effects of education).

The course adopts a teaching organization mode that includes a section composed of lectures – designed to introduce students to the acquisition of basic conceptual and theoretical tools – and a section organized in a seminar style – aimed at applying knowledge and deepening understanding. A Y-shaped model will be adopted (dividing the class into two groups during the seminars) if the number of students is equal to or greater than 25.

Students are required to attend the seminar sessions having already read the assigned material, and active participation will be expected, starting from the application of knowledge gained from individual readings for thematic deepening and exercises.
The readings marked with an asterisk are mandatory for both attending and non-attending students.
The structure of the lessons will be as follows:

Lessons 1-14: Education and inequalities, examined through the lens of sexual identity and migration. Work and inequalities, analyzed in terms of sexual identity and migration. Readings:

• *** Angelucci, A. (2015). Origini e nuovi possibili scenari dell’Intersectionality Theory: Dal genere allo spazio urbano. AG AboutGender, 4(8), 262–283.***
• *** Corbisiero F. Nocenzi M. e Consiglio scientifico della Sezione AIS Studi di Genere (a cura di) (2024) Manuale di educazione al genere e alla sessualità. Milano, Utet. Capp. 2, 3, 4, 8 ***
• *** M. V. Lee Badgett (2023) Economia Queer. Note dell'autrice su termini e linguaggi utilizzati e Capp. 1 e 2. Il Saggiatore, Milano ***
• ***Parreñas, Rhacel Salazar, and Carolyn Choi,(2016) "Migration", in Lisa Disch, and Mary Hawkesworth (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory, Oxford Handbooks https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328581.013.25 ***
• ***Reyneri, E. (2017) Introduzione alla sociologia del mercato del lavoro, Capp. 2 e 9. Bologna, il Mulino***.
• ***Sandel J. M. (2021) La tirannia del merito, Milano, Feltrinelli. Capp 5, 6, 7, Conclusioni. ***

***********************************************

Lessons 15, 16: Gender and market.

• Filandri M. (2022) Lavorare non basta, Bari-Roma, Laterza. Capitolo 2 Un punto di riferimento instabile
  
• Filandri M. (2022) Lavorare non basta, Bari-Roma, Laterza. Capitolo 4 Che cosa può fare lo stato
  
• Carriero, R., & Naldini, M. (2022). Gender Disparity in Access to Academia in Italy. Are there barriers to women’s early career stages?.Polis,36(1), 5-32. ISO 690
• Juliana de Castro Galvao, Gender Inequality in Lifetime Earnings, Social Forces, Volume 101, Issue 4, April 2023, Pages 1772–1802, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soac060
• Anette Eva Fasang, Silke Aisenbrey, Uncovering Social Stratification: Intersectional Inequalities in Work and Family Life Courses by Gender and Race, Social Forces, Volume 101, Issue 2, December 2022, Pages 575–605, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soab151
  
• Filandri, M., & Pasqua, S. (2019). “Being good isn”t good enough’: gender discrimination in Italian academia. Studies in Higher Education, 1–19. http://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1693990
• Marra, M. (2020). Intersectionality and emergence in time use analysis: possible pathways for gender research and work–family reconciliation policy in Italy. Community, Work & Family, 23(1), 80-106
• Acquadro Maran, D., Varetto, A., & Civilotti, C. (2022). Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Consequences and Perceived Self-Efficacy in Women and Men Witnesses and Non-Witnesses. Behavioral Sciences, 12(9), 326
• Areguin, M. A. (2021) Putting People Down and Pushing Them Out: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior 8:1, 285-309
• Basile, K. C., D'Inverno, A. S., & Wang, J. (2020). National Prevalence of Sexual Violence by a Workplace-Related Perpetrator. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 58(2), 216-223.
• Hersch, J. (2015) Sexual harassment in the workplace. IZA World of Labor 188 doi: 10.15185/izawol.188
• Kawaguchi, A., (2019) Maternity harassment in Japan: Why do regular employees have higher risk than non-regular employees do? Japan and the World Economy 49, Pages 84-94.
• Oesch, D., Lipps, O., & McDonald, P. (2017). The wage penalty for motherhood: Evidence on discrimination from panel data and a survey experiment for Switzerland. Demographic Research, 37, 1793-1824
• Morgenroth, T., Heilman, M. E. (2017). Should I stay or should I go? Implications of maternity leave choice for perceptions of working mothers. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 72, Pages 53-56.
• Bolzani, D., Crivellaro, F., & Grimaldi, R. (2021). Highly skilled, yet invisible. The potential of migrant women with a STEMM background in Italy between intersectional barriers and resources. Gender, Work & Organization, 28(6), 2132-2157.
• Stertz, A. M., Grether, T., Wiese, B. S. (2017) Gender-role attitudes and parental work decisions after childbirth: A longitudinal dyadic perspective with dual-earner couples. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 101. pp. 104-118
• Falletta L, Abbruzzese S, Fischbein R, Shura R, Eng A, Alemagno S. (2019) Work Reentry After Childbirth: Predictors of Self-Rated Health in Month One Among a Sample of University Faculty and Staff. Saf Health Work. 2020 Mar;11(1):19-25. doi:10.1016/j.shaw.2019.12.006.

Lessonsi 17, 18: old and new discriminations.

• Rainisio, N., Pola, L., Bove, C., Inghilleri, P., & Mussi, A. (2022). Career aspirations, expectations, and perceived contextual barriers in native and foreign-born citizens: An italian case study. Ricerche di psicologia: 3, 2022, 1-25.
  
• Gasperoni, G., & Mantovani, D. (2020). Blood, buddies, banks: Potential funding sources for starting a new business as perceived by Maghrebi, Filipino and Chinese immigrants in Italy. In Economic and Social Perspectives on European Migration(pp. 135-172). Routledge.
• Argentin, G., & Pavolini, E. (2020). How schools directly contribute to the reproduction of social inequalities. Evidence of tertiary effects, taken from Italian research. Social Policies, 7(1), 149-176.
• Jaymes Pyne, Michela Musto, A Gendered and Racialized Educational Hierarchy: Disparities in Elementary School Teachers’ Perceptions of Student Behavior, Social Forces, Volume 101, Issue 4, April 2023, Pages 1948–1975, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soac095
• Perrotta D., (2011) Vite in cantiere, Capitolo 4 parr. 1-5, Bologna, Il Mulino
• Fellini, I., Fullin, G., (2015). Giovani adulti di fronte alla crisi occupazionale in Italia e Spagna. Immigrati e autoctoni a confronto. Mondi Migranti
• DE LUIGI, N., Santangelo, F., (2017) Transition from University to Work in Italy (1998-2011): Over-education and Gender Differences across Fields of StudyITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 2017, 9, pp. 176 - 206
  
• Vora K. (2019) ‘After the Housewife. Surrogacy labour and human reproduction’. Radical Philosophy 2.04. available at https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/article/after-the-housewife
• Bandelli, D., Corradi C. (2019) Abolishing or regulating surrogacy : the meanings of freedom according to Italian feminism, in Salute e società: XVIII, 1.
• Danna, D. (2019) The subrogation of motherhood : a judicial institution that puts kinship on the market, in Salute e società : XVIII, 1.
• Jacobson, H. (2021). Commercial surrogacy in the age of intensive mothering. Current Sociology, 69(2), 193-211.
• Rudrappa, S. (2021). The impossibility of gendered justice through surrogacy bans. Current Sociology, 69(2), 286-299.
• Murgia, Michela (2023) Dare la vita, Altre gravidanze. Rizzoli.
• Bhattacharjee, D. (2024). A shift from home to the market: The marketization of reproductive labor in India. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(1), 199-215.
• Linguaggio: https://accademiadellacrusca.it/it/consulenza/mettiamo-tutto-e-tutti-al-femminile/30517 ;https://accademiadellacrusca.it/it/contenuti/l-accademia-risponde-a-un-quesito-sulla-parit-di-genere-negli-atti-giudiziari-posto-dal-comitato-par/31174 ; Gheno V. (2022) Femminili singolari Firenze, effequ. L'avventura dello schwa pp. 175-195
• Sandel J. M. (2012) Quello che i soldi non possono comprare, Milano, Feltrinelli. Introduzione. Mercati e morale; capitolo 1. Saltare la coda

Lessons 19, 20: New challenges.

• Ablaza, C., Perales, F., & Elkin, N. (2025). The ‘double whammy’: Associations between LGBTQ+ identity, non-standard employment and workplace well-being. The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 1-18.
• Agovino, M., & Corbisiero, F. (2021). Diversity management policies for the inclusion of LGBT people into the labour market: The case of Naples. Papers in Applied Geography, 7(1), 50-66.
• Agovino, M., Cerciello, M., & Bevilacqua, M. (2024). Linguistic Discrimination of LGBTQ+ People as a Deterrent to Economic Performance: The Case of the French and Italian Languages. Chapter 4 “The different facets of discrimination” Springer Nature.
• Gina Potarca, Jennifer Hook, Does Online Dating Challenge Gendered Divisions of Household Labor?, Social Forces, Volume 102, Issue 2, December 2023, Pages 633–657, https://doi-org.ezproxy.unibo.it/10.1093/sf/soad080
• Romens, A. I. (2021). Lavoro da remoto, conciliazione tra tempi di vita e lockdown: per una prospettiva di genere. Sociologia del lavoro, 224-243.
• Naomi A Gardberg, William Newburry, Bryant A Hudson, Magdalena Viktora-Jones, Adoption of LGBT-Inclusive Policies: Social Construction, Coercion, or Competition?, Social Forces, Volume 101, Issue 3, March 2023, Pages 1116–1142, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soac033
• Garfinkel, H. (2012) Agnese, Roma, Armando Editore.
• Rosati, F., Coletta, V., Pistella, J., Scandurra, C., Laghi, F., & Baiocco, R. (2021). Experiences of Life and Intersectionality of Transgender Refugees Living in Italy: A Qualitative Approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), 12385.
• Monaco, Salvatore, and Alfonso Pezzella. "Coming out in the workplace: A comparative study between Italy and England." Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health(2022): 1-20
• Bayrakdar, S., & King, A. (2021). Job satisfaction and sexual orientation in Britain. Work, Employment and Society. doi:10.1177/0950017020980997
• Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Lattanner, M. R., McKetta, S., & Pachankis, J. E. (2024). Structural stigma and LGBTQ+ health: a narrative review of quantitative studies.The Lancet Public Health,9(2), e109-e127. ISO 690
• Katsuba, S. (2024). The decade of violence: A comprehensive analysis of hate crimes against LGBTQ in Russia in the era of the “Gay Propaganda Law”(2010–2020). Victims & Offenders, 19(3), 395-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2022.2127021
• Beasy, K., Grant, R., & Emery, S. (2021). Multiple dimensions of safe space for LGBTQ students: school staff perceptions. Sex Education, 23(1), 35–48. doi:10.1080/14681811.2021.2018677
• Näre, L. (2010). Sri Lankan men working as cleaners and carers: Negotiating masculinity in Naples. Men and Masculinities, 13(1), 65-86
• Meliou, E., Vassilopoulou, J., & Ozbilgin, M. F. (Eds.). (2024). Diversity and precarious work during socio-economic upheaval: Exploring the missing link. Chapter 3 “LGBTQI+ Individuals and precarious work” Cambridge University Press
• Mills, S., & Owens, B. (2023). Customer abuse and aggression as labour control among LGBT workers in low-wage services. Work, employment and society, 37(3), 776-793
• Dilmaghani, M., & Robinson, M. (2024). The blue of the rainbow: Queerness and hiring discrimination in blue-collar occupations. Review of Social Economy, 82(3), 367-395

Readings can change until September

Readings/Bibliography

Mandatory readings

• *** Corbisiero F. Nocenzi M. e Consiglio scientifico della Sezione AIS Studi di Genere (a cura di) (2024) Manuale di educazione al genere e alla sessualità. Milano, Utet. Capp. 2, 3, 4, 8 ***
• *** M. V. Lee Badgett (2023) Economia Queer. Note dell'autrice su termini e linguaggi utilizzati e Capp. 1 e 2. Il Saggiatore, Milano ***
• ***Parreñas, Rhacel Salazar, and Carolyn Choi,(2016) "Migration", in Lisa Disch, and Mary Hawkesworth (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Feminist Theory, Oxford Handbooks https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199328581.013.25 ***
• ***Reyneri, E. (2017) Introduzione alla sociologia del mercato del lavoro, Capp. 2 e 9. Bologna, il Mulino***.
• ***Sandel J. M. (2021) La tirannia del merito, Milano, Feltrinelli. Capp 5, 6, 7, Conclusioni. ***

Optional Readings

• Filandri M. (2022) Lavorare non basta, Bari-Roma, Laterza. Capitolo 2 Un punto di riferimento instabile
• Filandri M. (2022) Lavorare non basta, Bari-Roma, Laterza. Capitolo 4 Che cosa può fare lo stato
• Carriero, R., & Naldini, M. (2022). Gender Disparity in Access to Academia in Italy. Are there barriers to women’s early career stages?.Polis,36(1), 5-32. ISO 690
• Juliana de Castro Galvao, Gender Inequality in Lifetime Earnings, Social Forces, Volume 101, Issue 4, April 2023, Pages 1772–1802, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soac060
• Anette Eva Fasang, Silke Aisenbrey, Uncovering Social Stratification: Intersectional Inequalities in Work and Family Life Courses by Gender and Race, Social Forces, Volume 101, Issue 2, December 2022, Pages 575–605, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soab151
• Filandri, M., & Pasqua, S. (2019). “Being good isn”t good enough’: gender discrimination in Italian academia. Studies in Higher Education, 1–19. http://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2019.1693990
• Marra, M. (2020). Intersectionality and emergence in time use analysis: possible pathways for gender research and work–family reconciliation policy in Italy. Community, Work & Family, 23(1), 80-106

• Acquadro Maran, D., Varetto, A., & Civilotti, C. (2022). Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Consequences and Perceived Self-Efficacy in Women and Men Witnesses and Non-Witnesses. Behavioral Sciences, 12(9), 326
• Areguin, M. A. (2021) Putting People Down and Pushing Them Out: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior 8:1, 285-309
• Basile, K. C., D'Inverno, A. S., & Wang, J. (2020). National Prevalence of Sexual Violence by a Workplace-Related Perpetrator. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 58(2), 216-223.
• Hersch, J. (2015) Sexual harassment in the workplace. IZA World of Labor 188 doi: 10.15185/izawol.188
• Kawaguchi, A., (2019) Maternity harassment in Japan: Why do regular employees have higher risk than non-regular employees do? Japan and the World Economy 49, Pages 84-94.
• Oesch, D., Lipps, O., & McDonald, P. (2017). The wage penalty for motherhood: Evidence on discrimination from panel data and a survey experiment for Switzerland. Demographic Research, 37, 1793-1824
• Morgenroth, T., Heilman, M. E. (2017). Should I stay or should I go? Implications of maternity leave choice for perceptions of working mothers. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Volume 72, Pages 53-56.
• Bolzani, D., Crivellaro, F., & Grimaldi, R. (2021). Highly skilled, yet invisible. The potential of migrant women with a STEMM background in Italy between intersectional barriers and resources. Gender, Work & Organization, 28(6), 2132-2157.
• Stertz, A. M., Grether, T., Wiese, B. S. (2017) Gender-role attitudes and parental work decisions after childbirth: A longitudinal dyadic perspective with dual-earner couples. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 101. pp. 104-118
• Falletta L, Abbruzzese S, Fischbein R, Shura R, Eng A, Alemagno S. (2019) Work Reentry After Childbirth: Predictors of Self-Rated Health in Month One Among a Sample of University Faculty and Staff. Saf Health Work. 2020 Mar;11(1):19-25. doi:10.1016/j.shaw.2019.12.006.

• Rainisio, N., Pola, L., Bove, C., Inghilleri, P., & Mussi, A. (2022). Career aspirations, expectations, and perceived contextual barriers in native and foreign-born citizens: An italian case study. Ricerche di psicologia: 3, 2022, 1-25.
  
• Gasperoni, G., & Mantovani, D. (2020). Blood, buddies, banks: Potential funding sources for starting a new business as perceived by Maghrebi, Filipino and Chinese immigrants in Italy. In Economic and Social Perspectives on European Migration(pp. 135-172). Routledge.
• Argentin, G., & Pavolini, E. (2020). How schools directly contribute to the reproduction of social inequalities. Evidence of tertiary effects, taken from Italian research. Social Policies, 7(1), 149-176.
• Jaymes Pyne, Michela Musto, A Gendered and Racialized Educational Hierarchy: Disparities in Elementary School Teachers’ Perceptions of Student Behavior, Social Forces, Volume 101, Issue 4, April 2023, Pages 1948–1975, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soac095
• Perrotta D., (2011) Vite in cantiere, Capitolo 4 parr. 1-5, Bologna, Il Mulino
• Fellini, I., Fullin, G., (2015). Giovani adulti di fronte alla crisi occupazionale in Italia e Spagna. Immigrati e autoctoni a confronto. Mondi Migranti
• DE LUIGI, N., Santangelo, F., (2017) Transition from University to Work in Italy (1998-2011): Over-education and Gender Differences across Fields of StudyITALIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY OF EDUCATION, 2017, 9, pp. 176 - 206
  
• Vora K. (2019) ‘After the Housewife. Surrogacy labour and human reproduction’. Radical Philosophy 2.04. available at https://www.radicalphilosophy.com/article/after-the-housewife
• Bandelli, D., Corradi C. (2019) Abolishing or regulating surrogacy : the meanings of freedom according to Italian feminism, in Salute e società: XVIII, 1.
• Danna, D. (2019) The subrogation of motherhood : a judicial institution that puts kinship on the market, in Salute e società: XVIII, 1.
• Jacobson, H. (2021). Commercial surrogacy in the age of intensive mothering. Current Sociology, 69(2), 193-211.
• Rudrappa, S. (2021). The impossibility of gendered justice through surrogacy bans. Current Sociology, 69(2), 286-299.
• Murgia, Michela (2023) Dare la vita, Altre gravidanze. Rizzoli.
• Bhattacharjee, D. (2024). A shift from home to the market: The marketization of reproductive labor in India. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 56(1), 199-215.
• Linguaggio: https://accademiadellacrusca.it/it/consulenza/mettiamo-tutto-e-tutti-al-femminile/30517 ;https://accademiadellacrusca.it/it/contenuti/l-accademia-risponde-a-un-quesito-sulla-parit-di-genere-negli-atti-giudiziari-posto-dal-comitato-par/31174 ; Gheno V. (2022) Femminili singolari Firenze, effequ. L'avventura dello schwa pp. 175-195
• Sandel J. M. (2012) Quello che i soldi non possono comprare, Milano, Feltrinelli. Introduzione. Mercati e morale; capitolo 1. Saltare la coda

• Ablaza, C., Perales, F., & Elkin, N. (2025). The ‘double whammy’: Associations between LGBTQ+ identity, non-standard employment and workplace well-being. The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 1-18.
• Agovino, M., & Corbisiero, F. (2021). Diversity management policies for the inclusion of LGBT people into the labour market: The case of Naples. Papers in Applied Geography, 7(1), 50-66.
• Agovino, M., Cerciello, M., & Bevilacqua, M. (2024). Linguistic Discrimination of LGBTQ+ People as a Deterrent to Economic Performance: The Case of the French and Italian Languages. Chapter 4 “The different facets of discrimination” Springer Nature.
• Gina Potarca, Jennifer Hook, Does Online Dating Challenge Gendered Divisions of Household Labor?, Social Forces, Volume 102, Issue 2, December 2023, Pages 633–657, https://doi-org.ezproxy.unibo.it/10.1093/sf/soad080
• Romens, A. I. (2021). Lavoro da remoto, conciliazione tra tempi di vita e lockdown: per una prospettiva di genere. Sociologia del lavoro, 224-243.
• Naomi A Gardberg, William Newburry, Bryant A Hudson, Magdalena Viktora-Jones, Adoption of LGBT-Inclusive Policies: Social Construction, Coercion, or Competition?, Social Forces, Volume 101, Issue 3, March 2023, Pages 1116–1142, https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soac033
• Garfinkel, H. (2012) Agnese, Roma, Armando Editore.
• Rosati, F., Coletta, V., Pistella, J., Scandurra, C., Laghi, F., & Baiocco, R. (2021). Experiences of Life and Intersectionality of Transgender Refugees Living in Italy: A Qualitative Approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), 12385.
• Monaco, Salvatore, and Alfonso Pezzella. "Coming out in the workplace: A comparative study between Italy and England." Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health(2022): 1-20
• Bayrakdar, S., & King, A. (2021). Job satisfaction and sexual orientation in Britain. Work, Employment and Society. doi:10.1177/0950017020980997
• Hatzenbuehler, M. L., Lattanner, M. R., McKetta, S., & Pachankis, J. E. (2024). Structural stigma and LGBTQ+ health: a narrative review of quantitative studies.The Lancet Public Health,9(2), e109-e127. ISO 690
• Katsuba, S. (2024). The decade of violence: A comprehensive analysis of hate crimes against LGBTQ in Russia in the era of the “Gay Propaganda Law”(2010–2020). Victims & Offenders, 19(3), 395-418. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518398.2022.2127021
• Beasy, K., Grant, R., & Emery, S. (2021). Multiple dimensions of safe space for LGBTQ students: school staff perceptions. Sex Education, 23(1), 35–48. doi:10.1080/14681811.2021.2018677
• Näre, L. (2010). Sri Lankan men working as cleaners and carers: Negotiating masculinity in Naples. Men and Masculinities, 13(1), 65-86
• Meliou, E., Vassilopoulou, J., & Ozbilgin, M. F. (Eds.). (2024). Diversity and precarious work during socio-economic upheaval: Exploring the missing link. Chapter 3 “LGBTQI+ Individuals and precarious work” Cambridge University Press
• Mills, S., & Owens, B. (2023). Customer abuse and aggression as labour control among LGBT workers in low-wage services. Work, employment and society, 37(3), 776-793
• Dilmaghani, M., & Robinson, M. (2024). The blue of the rainbow: Queerness and hiring discrimination in blue-collar occupations. Review of Social Economy, 82(3), 367-395

Teaching methods

The initial lessons will follow a traditional format.

Starting from lesson 14 (or lesson 9, if conducted in an experimental format with class splitting), individual or group student presentations on the indicated topics are expected. For these sessions, students must have studied the mandatory literature (as indicated from lessons 1 to 14) before the lesson, not afterward.

The presentation schedule will be agreed upon during the second week of classes. Each presentation will have at least one discussant assigned, who will be required to submit their comments by 6 PM on the day preceding the presentation.

From the second week onward, attendance will be recorded for those wishing to take the exam as attending students.

Assessment methods

Attending Students:

Attending students will be evaluated as follows:

• In lesson 9 (14) students will take a multiple-choice in class-tests consisting of 16 questions. Correct answers will be worth 2 points, incorrect or not given 0 points, for a total of 30 cum laude. Students are therefore invited to come to class with a tablet, mobile phone or laptop. (The mark obtained in the test will contribute to 20% of the final mark). The vote will therefore correspond to the following:
  • Insufficient: most of the texts have not been read.
  • Grade 16-19: At least half of the texts have been read.
  • Grade 20-24: More than half of the texts have been read.
  • Grade 25-29: Almost all the texts have been read, and partially understood.
  • Grade 30-30L: All the texts have been adequately understood.
• Presentation and comments as a discussant (contributing to 40% of the final grade). For the assessment as a discussant, please refer to the evaluation criteria for non-attending students. The evaluation for the presentations will correspond to the criteria outlined below:
  • Insufficient: the student demonstrates limited relevance to the text to be presented.
  • Grade 18-19: the student has presented by merely summarizing the text.
  • Grade 20-24: the student has presented by merely summarizing the text and making sporadic connections with the required literature.
  • Grade 25-29: the student has presented by summarizing the text and linking it to the required literature.
  • Grade 30-30L: the student has presented the text by connecting it to the reference literature with independent critical contributions.
• Participation, meaning attendance in lessons and critical contributions to the discussion and presentations of others (contributing to 15% of the final grade). The grading will correspond to the criteria outlined below:
  • Insufficient: the student has been absent for more than 65% of the lessons..
  • Grade 18-19: the student has attended 65% of the lessons but has never participated actively.
  • Grade 20-24:the student has attended 65% of the lessons and has participated only sporadically in class activities.
  • Grade 25-29: the student has attended 65% of the lessons and has actively participated in class activities; however, not all critical contributions have demonstrated support from the reading of the required texts.
  • Grade 30-30L: The student has attended 65% of the lessons, has actively participated in class activities, and all critical contributions have consistently demonstrated support from the reading of the required texts.
• The review of an article (1000 words) agreed with the teacher at the end of the course to be delivered no later than one week after the end of the course. (The grade obtained for the review will contribute 25% of the grade). This mode can be replaced by two or more comments as a discussant, agreed upon in class. The evaluation of the review and the comments as a discussant will be the same as the criteria for non-attending students.
• To be considered an attending student it is necessary to pass the multiple-choice test, present and discuss a paper, serve as a discussant for at least one paper, and attend at least 65% of the lessons. Attendance will be verified starting from the midpoint of the second week of classes.
• The grade obtained by the attending students must be recorded no later than September 2025.
• Students are required to register for in-class test.

NON Attending Students:

They will be assessed with a 3-hour open-book exam consisting of 3 open-ended questions that will require a critical analysis and a reworking of the mandatory readings marked with an asterisk.

The valid mark is the last one obtained in a session. The mark can be refused only once: the passing mark obtained after the first refusal will be automatically recorded, according to the University regulations.

The determination of the final mark takes place on the basis of the following criteria:

• 18-19: very poor knowledge of the course's contents
• 20-24: poor knowledge of the course's contents and limited capacity to organize critical thoughts
• 25-29: good knowledge of the course's contents and good capacity to organize critical thoughts
• 30-30 cum laude: excellent knowledge of the course's contents and excellent capacity to organize critical thoughts

Office hours

See the website of Federica Santangelo